Questions, Questions and more Questions!

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about the power of asking questions: 

I keep six honest serving-men
 (They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When 
 And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
 I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
 I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
 For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
 For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views; 
I know a person small—
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!

She sends'em abroad on her own affairs,
 From the second she opens her eyes—
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!
When he starts to talk about "a person small" he is referring to his curious little daughter. I'm sure you've seen this especially during this winter season! 

Mom, why that puddles so big?
What's an umberrella?
Why don't it snow? 

When does Santa come?

The questions are endless and sometimes very difficult to explain. (Where do babies come from?) Asking questions is essential to learning. Its important for kids to ask questions and for YOU to ask your children questions of what they think and already know instead of just telling them the answer. Asking questions teaches curiosity and resourcefulness which are important life skills. 

I've seen how easy it is for parents to dismiss a teaching opportunity by just telling their child the answer and not allowing them to discover the answer. In the next few weeks I'm going to do a series of posts about asking questions and hopefully as your children grow you'll be able to encourage their learning by asking them what they think, what they feel, what they want and then have the patience and courage to let them try out those thoughts, feelings and choices and help them become independent little people. 

Watch this videos to see how asking questions helps these children to create a building on their own!